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Should You Detox Your Body From Glyphosate Weedkiller?

Do you need to detox your body from Glyphosate? 7 out of 10 people have this weedkiller in their urine. Do you?

A recent study on people in the UK found that 70% of people who lived in the city had glyphosate weedkiller in their urine. Isn’t that shocking?

But it’s not only people in the UK that are affected. A 2013 study by Friends of the Earth found traces of this toxic weedkiller in the urine of people they tested from 18 European countries.

Don’t think that you have escaped if you live in the USA. People in the USA were found to have levels over 10 times higher than found in people living in Europe. It was even found in the breast milk of women at ‘high’ levels!

The results of this study shows that glyphosate can and does accumulate in the body and exceed the safe levels allowed by US regulatory agencies. A fact that has previously been denied by Monsanto’s scientists.

Why is this a concern?

Earlier this year The International Agency for Research on Cancer (part of the World Health Organization) classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic” to humans. This means it can probably cause cells to become cancerous.

It has other effects on the body too which I list below but let’s look at where it comes from first.

Where does Glyphosate come from?

Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup. It’s the best selling weedkiller in the world.

Many spray their crops just 3 days before harvest and because Roundup is a systemic herbicide it gets into the cells of the plants. This means you can’t wash it off.

30% of bread samples in the UK were found to contain it as well as other pesticides.

According to Dr Mercola the average American eats several hundred pounds of glyphosate-contaminated food every year. Not a pleasant thought!

What does Glyphosate do to you?

Impaired detoxification

According to research done by Anthony Samsel and Stephanie Seneff of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one major effect of glyphosate is to inhibit the cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes produced by the gut organisms. CYP enzymes detoxify many of the toxic chemicals that we are exposed to in our modern environment.

Anthony Samsel on the Effects of Glyphosate Part 1

Obesity

Glyphosate induces a shift in gut bacteria. Recently there has been an increasing understanding about the link between gut microorganisms and metabolic disorders including obesity and insulin resistance.Because glyphosate impairs the CYP enzymes in the liver it impairs the body’s ability to detoxify synthetics chemicals which interfere with the body’s chemistry leading to weight gain.

Alzheimer’s Disease

In the lab, Roundup causes the same type of oxidative stress and neural cell death found in Alzheimer’s disease.

Parkinson’s Disease

The onset of Parkinson’s following exposure to glyphosate has been well documented.

Liver disease

Very low doses of Roundup can disrupt liver cell function in humans, according to a 2009 study published in Toxicology.

Kidney Disease

A recent study confirms chronic kidney failure is 5 times higher in areas like Sri Lanka where farmers are exposed to glyphosate through drinking water.Data from the USDA, National Cancer Institutes, Centers for Disease Control, reveal a steep rise in kidney disease in the US from the time of the introduction of glyphosate and GM food.

Reproductive problems

Studies of male lab rats exposed to high levels of glyphosate suffer from reproductive problems.

Trace mineral deficiency diseases

Glyphosate combines with trace minerals in the body and can cause deficiency diseases such as anemia and goiter.

Cancer

As already mentioned above the IARC have said that glyphosate “probably” causes cancer. Monsanto is of course denying that there are any health concerns. Some countries think otherwise. Sri Lanka, El Salvador and Colombia have either banned or restricted the use of glyphosate due to health concerns. A 1999 study by eminent oncologists Dr. Lennart Hardell and Dr. Mikael Eriksson of Sweden, has revealed clear links between glyphosate and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of cancer.

Do you want this stuff in your body? I certainly don’t want it in mine!

How to detox your body from glyphosate weedkiller

The good news is that according to Dr Mercola if you stop putting glyphosate into your body by cutting out processed and non organic foods what is already there will come out.

That’s all very well but what about the damage it’s already done? What about the liver detox enzymes that have been affected preventing other toxic chemicals from being detoxed?

This means that we have to support the detox pathways, especially Phase 1, with the food and nutrients known to enhance them.

Here’s how to support your Phase 1 detox pathway

Buy and eat organic fruits and vegetables where possible. Avoid the most contaminated fruit and vegetables. Check the Environmental Working Group’s shopper’s Guide to Pesticides.

Load up on cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, rutabaga (swede), bok choy, collard greens, chard, turnip greens, arugula, mustard greens, watercress, radish and turnips. They contain substances that activate Phase 1 detox and induce the Phase 2 detox pathways. Garlic and onions help to supply sulfur a detox substance used by the liver that may be depleted by glyphosate.

Add oranges, tangerines, caraway seeds and dill seeds to your meals. They contain limonene, a phytochemical that is a strong inducer of Phase 1 detox system.

Drink Green tea. Green tea is a great addition to any detox program because of the antioxidants it contains. Free radicals are created as a result of Phase 1 detox so you need plenty of antioxidants in your diet to quench them before they can do damage to your cells. Green tea is the best food source of catechins which are more powerful than the antioxidant effects of Vitamins C and E.

Don’t skimp on fiber. Eat whole grains (not wheat) , beans, vegetables, berries, nuts and seeds. If you do not have a least one and preferably two good bowel movements every day many of the toxins eliminated from the liver through the bile just get reabsorbed from the small intestine and get returned to the liver where they have to get detoxified all over again using up precious energy and nutrients.

Drink pure water ( not tap water). Enough fluid is needed to help dilute and flush out toxins. How much you need to drink depends on your age, weight, level of activity and how much you lose from sweat but The European Food Safety Authoritity recommends 2.5 litres ( approx 5 US pints) of water for men and 2.0 litres (approx 4 US pints) of water for women per day. 20-30% of this should come from food. Smoothies, juices and soups can all count towards your fluid intake.

Get moving. The liver relies on good circulation for it’s detox function. Physical activity is necessary for good circulation.

So you see you can detox your body from this toxic weedkiller if you stop allowing it to get in. Easier said than done though with it in nearly all our non organic food.

The good news is that several European countries are worried enough about it to ban it’s use. Let hope that more countries including the USA will soon follow suit.

Did you know this about Roundup? Are you going to take steps to try to avoid it now and detox your body from it?

Reader Interactions

Comments

Great article but if you have high levels of glyphosate it raises oxalate levels. This can inhibit sulfation and the antioxidant system. This can cause high levels of ammonia and hydrogen peroxide. If you have high levels of glyphosate you need to get your oxalate , ammonia and hydrogen peroxide levels down. The things needed to get sulfation working again need the antioxidant system, they also increase ammonia and hydrogen peroxide. If you start detoxing before you get those working you can become very ill. Sunlight and infrared light help restore sulfation.

Thanks for your great insights into the additional effects of glyphosate Lee. I believe that boosting the liver detox pathways with the foods that I have outlined should also reduce ammonia and improve the sulfation pathways. A nutritional supplement specially designed to support the detox pathways would improve on that.

I did not know that sunlight and infrared light could help restore sulfation but I know that far infrared can have the effect of increasing biological functions of the body as well as detoxifying the body.

Glyphosate inhibits sulfation. They need to address that or eating high sulfur foods with cause sulfites to build up making a person ill. Glyphosate cause the minerals needed for sulfation to be deficient. They need to be careful with high sulfur foods until they have replaced the minerals and the sulfite levels come down. Took about 3 months for me. By the way so far your article still has the best advice.